Matthew 17:9-13
Many times we have seen Jesus swear people to secrecy, whether it's about his various healing miracles or Peter's confession that he was the Christ. Matthew has already explained in 12:15-21 that Jesus' ministry was not an advertising campaign. While it's true he didn't take every measure to hide his miracles, nevertheless the theme of his ministry was to fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah 42:2: "He will not quarrel, nor cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets." The Suffering Servant would not try to control the airwaves. He let others draw their own conclusions, whether they thought he should be worshipped or murdered.I do wonder though if Jesus' command to "tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead" was more than just about being low key. Peter, James and John didn't seem to have a clue what the vision was all about, and perhaps Jesus knew they wouldn't until he rose from the dead. What could they possibly say about it in the meantime? "Hey everybody! You'll never guess what we just saw!" It would be all about them and how special they were to witness something spectacular, making the other disciples jealous. The apostle Paul was famously humbled by a thorn in the flesh to keep him from boasting of visions he saw (2 Cor. 12:1-10). Jesus may have imposed silence on his disciples to restrain their pride as well as their ignorance.
The disciples responded to Jesus' command by asking him about Elijah. At first that seems pretty strange. You have to consult Mark 9:10 to see that they got there because Jesus' admonishment led them to debate about the resurrection. I imagine it went something like this: "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead." "Did he just say 'rise from the dead'?" "I think so. What does that mean?" "I think it means this, I think it means that, blah blah." "Hey, wasn't Elijah supposed to rise from the dead?" "That's what the scribes say. He was supposed to come before the Christ." "So where is he?" "He never came! Maybe the scribes are wrong." "Say, Rabbi, why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
Jesus answered by first affirming that the scribes were correct. "Elijah is coming and will restore all things." He spoke of Elijah in the present and future tense as a way of confirming the truth of this statement. But then he immediately switched to the past tense to reveal that the prophecy about Elijah already happened. "But I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Jesus used their inquiry as an opportunity to reiterate what he knew was so hard for the disciples to swallow: that he also would suffer and die. John the Baptist was the great, much-anticipated Elijah--look at how they treated him. Was it so hard now to imagine the same happening to the Christ?
John was truly Jesus' forerunner in every way, even in suffering a cruel fate. Every other disciple of Jesus followed him in losing their life. Only John the Baptist had the unique honor of preceding him. No wonder Jesus praised John as the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (11:11).
